Lacing-hook.



PATENTED APR. 7,1903.

D. NOBLE & H. WALDEN LAGING HOOK.

APPLICATION FILED JULY 5, no 1.

N0 MODEL.

INVENTORS DONALD NOBLE HENRY WALDEN ATTORNEY rm: NaRms PEYERS co, PHO10-LITNO.. wnsmuarcn, n. c.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

DONALD NOBLE, OF LONDON, ENGLAND, AND HENRY WALDEN, OF

PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA.

LACING-HOOK.

SPECIFICATION formingpart of Letters Patent No. 724,731, dated April 7, 1903.

' Application filed July 5, 1901. Serial No. 67,200. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that we,DONALD NOBLE a sub- United States, and a resident of Philadelphia,

in the county of Philadelphia and State of Pennsylvania, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Lacing Hooks, of which the following is a specification.

Our invention relates to certain new and useful improvements in shoe-lacing hooks, and has for its object to provide a lacing-hook which will lie approximately flat against the shoe and avoid the liability of the Wearers clothing catching thereon and becoming frayed or torn; and our invention consists in forming such hook with a tail or stem for attachment to the shoe-upper by means of a line of contiguous overseam stitches, said stem being preferably bent or curved, so as to prevent the hook from tilting or rocking after its attachment to the shoe-upper.

Our invention further consists in certain details of construction, which will more fully hereinafter appear and be particularly designated by the claims.

Referring to the accompanying drawings, which form a part ofthisspecification, and in which like parts are similarly designated, Figure 1 is a perspective viewof a shoe equipped with our improved lacing-hooks; Fig. 2, a plan view, somewhat enlarged, of a portion of a shoe-upper with a series of our improved lacing-hooks attached thereon; Fig. 3, a sectional elevation taken in the plane indicated by the line 00 a; on Fig. 2; Fig. 4, a view similar to Fig. 3, but taken in the plane indicated by the line L; g on Fig. 2; Fig. 5, a detail perspective view of the lacing-hook detached looking from the top sidethereof; and Fig. 6, a detail perspective view similar to Fig. 5, but showing the hook as when made by stamping out of sheet metal.

1 is the lace-engaging loop of the hook, and 2 the body portion or stem for attachment to the shoe-upper3. Between the lace-engaging loop 1 of the hook and the body portion 2 is formed a slight odset 4., which serves to raise said lace-engaging loop a sufficient distance away from the shoe-upper to permit the lacing-string 5 to be readily introduced between the loop 1 andthe shoe-upper, and it will be seen that said loop extends in a plane approximately parallel with the surface of said shoe-upper. lace-engaging loop is bent inward toward the shoe-upper, as shown at 6, to prevent the wearers clothing from catching thereon and becoming frayed or torn.

As shown in Figs. 1 to 6, inclusive, the stem or body portion 2 of the hook comprises a loop preferably arcuate in contour and adapted to lie flat against the shoe-u pper. The extremityv of said stem is formed with an inwardly-projecting anchoring-spur 7, which pierces the shoe-upper slightly and serves to restrainthe hook from shifting thereon.

The hook is secured upon the shoe-upper by means of radially disposed overseamstitches 8,which extend overthe curved stem 2 from the offset 4 to a point just beyond the anchoring-spur 7, and we prefer to tie down said overseam-stitches 8 with an additional row of plain stitches 9,. which intersect said overseam-stitches at a point close up to the stem 2, thereby greatly strengthening the securing element and adding a decided improvement to the appearance thereof; but we do not wish to circumscribe our invention in this respect, since the overseam-stitches alone would answer the requirements of goods made with a view to cheapness. The offset 4: also assists the spur 7 in preventing the hook from shifting upon the shoe-upper, since a shoulder is thereby formed which is backed up by one terminal of the line of overseam-stit-ches.

In lacing up a shoejequipped with our improved hooks the lacing-string is passed beneath the loop and wound partly around the same, the soft texture of the material of which the shoe-upper is made readily permitting the lace to pass betweenthe inwardly-turned end 6 of the lace-engaging loop and the shoeupper, as will be readily understood by reference to Fig. 1.

We have illustrated our improved lacinghook in connection with a shoe but of'course such hook is equally applicable to other garments, such as gloves, corsets, &c.

The free end of the By constructing the lacing-hook as herein a plane approximately parallel with the surface of the shoe-upper and practically flat thereon, (being offset therefrom only sufficiently to permit the lacing-string to be easily passed under the hook,) so that no projections are presented on which the wearers clothing may catch, the free end of said hook being turned inwardly against the shoe-upper as an additional safeguard in this respect.

Having thus described our invention,what we claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

A lacing-hook adapted for attachment to the garment by means of an arcnate line of overseam-stitches, comprising an arcuate attaching-stem, over which said stitches are made, said stem terminating at one end in an anchoring-spur and provided at the other with a lace-engaging loop or hook bent inwardly toward said arcuate stem, the free end of said 

